And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. ] Josiah sent messengers throughout the land, and convened all the principal men in it at Jerusalem.
1
Then the king summoned all the leaders of Y'hudah and Yerushalayim, and they assembled with him.
2
The king went up to the house of ADONAI with all the men of Y'hudah, all those living in Yerushalayim, the cohanim, the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing everything written in the scroll of the covenant that had been found in the house of ADONAI.
3
The king stood on the platform and made a covenant in the presence of ADONAI to live following ADONAI, observing his mitzvot, instructions and regulations wholeheartedly and with all his being, so as to confirm the words of the covenant written in this scroll. All the people stood, pledging themselves to keep the covenant.
4
Then the king ordered Hilkiyahu the cohen hagadol, the cohanim of the second rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the sanctuary of ADONAI all the articles that had been made for Ba'al, for the asherah and for the entire army of heaven; and he burned them up outside Yerushalayim in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Beit-El
5
He deposed the idolatrous priests the kings of Y'hudah had ordained to offer on the high places by the cities of Y'hudah and in the places surrounding Yerushalayim; he also deposed those who offered to Ba'al, the sun, the moon, the constellations and the whole army of heaven.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.